Building One Global
Sales Team at SIP LLC
Company Background
SIP LLC is a B2B Manufacturing company providing air compressors and parts. The company operates in North America, EMEA, LATAM and Asia with a global sales force of 12 regional managers.
Over the past two years, SIP LLC wanted to expanded rapidly through new partners in Europe, LATAM, EMEA and Asia. While revenue grew, leadership noticed serious challenges across the global sales organization.
The Challenge
Despite strong individual performance in regions, the global sales team was underperforming as a whole. Key issues included:
Poor sales leadership
Underperforming partners who lacked trust in the corporate and sales leadership
Siloed regional teams
Each region ran sales independently, with little collaboration or knowledge sharing
Cultural misunderstandings
Domestic USA sales targets were much higher than other global territories
EMEA teams prioritized long-term relationships and compliance
LATAM sales managers were hampered by exchange rate challenges and macroeconomic issues
APAC teams avoided direct confrontation, leading to misalignment in pipeline reviews
Marketing Challenges
Inconsistent sales messaging across all regions with different webpages for each region
Different regions positioned the product differently, confusing global clients
Low trust across regions
Teams blamed other regions for missed global deals and poor handoffs.
Global win rates stalled at 12%, and employee engagement surveys showed declining morale.
The Objective
AKA My 3 goals
1. Build trust and team cohesion across regions
2. Improve cross-regional collaboration on global deals
3. Create a shared sales identity and language via a unified corporate website and branding
The Team-Building Exercise: “Global Deal Challenge”
Overview
SIP LLC designed a 2-day virtual team-building and sales simulation involving sales reps from all regions.
Participants were mixed into cross-regional teams (North America, EMEA, LATAM, APAC represented in each group).
Exercise Structure
Phase 1: Cross-cultural Business Exchange and Trust Building
Activity: “How We Sell” Roundtable
Each participant shared:
What are the best practices for their territory
How deals are typically won in their region
One cultural norm that affects negotiations
One frustration working with other regions
Rules:
No defending or interrupting
Clarifying questions only
OUTCOME: Sales reps realized many “problems” were cultural differences, not lack of effort.
Phase 2: The Global Deal Simulation
Activity: “Save the Account”
Each team received a complex fictional global account:
Headquarters in the U.S.
Decision-makers in Germany and Japan
Regulatory and pricing constraints in multiple regions
Teams had to:
Align on a single value proposition
Decide who leads each conversation
Plan handoffs between regions
Agree on negotiation tactics
Constraint:
No region could “win” alone—success required collaboration.
Phase 3: Reflection and Feedback
Activity: Structured Debrief
Teams discussed:
Where communication broke down
Which cultural assumptions caused friction
What improved decision-making
Leaders observed but did not intervene.
Tools Used:
Shared virtual whiteboards
Time-zone rotation to ensure fairness
Each team received a complex fictional global account:
Headquarters in the U.S.
Decision-makers in Germany and Japan
Regulatory and pricing constraints in multiple regions
Results
Within 6 months:
Global win rate increased from 12% to 31%
Deal cycle time decreased by 19%
Cross-region deal participation increased by 40%
Employee engagement scores rose, especially in “feeling heard”
Sales teams reported:
More empathy for regional differences
Clearer ownership on global deals
Stronger informal relationships across borders
Key Learnings
1.
Cultural differences are assets, not obstacles. When acknowledged openly, they improve strategy.
2.
Shared experiences build trust faster than training slides. Simulations created safe failure and learning.
3.
Global sales need common branding, website, language, not uniform behavior. Alignment matters more than identical processes.
Workshop Discussion Questions
1. Where do silos exist in your current sales organization?
2. How do cultural norms influence negotiation and decision-making?
3. What would a “Global Deal Challenge” look like in your company?
4. How can leaders reinforce these behaviors post-exercise?